FEATURE CARE FIRST
Paul Ko Ferrigno, CEO at éclateral, ask what the government’s 10 Year Health Plan means for the care sector.
Announced earlier this year, the government’s 10 Year Health Plan has set out an ambitious strategy to prioritise care in the community as part of a more sustainable healthcare model for the future. This has been welcomed by healthcare professionals, who have been arguing the current system is dangerously outdated for years. However, perhaps awaiting the Casey review, Care gets barely a mention.
The system as it stands puts huge amounts of pressure on hospitals and GPs – pressure that as a nation we are feeling through long wait times, shorter appointments and difficulties navigating a creaking system. One of the proposed solutions is to push treatment away from traditional providers into the community.
For care providers, this new shiſt to community care will result in a dramatic change of procedure. Already crucial care givers in the community, it is important that those working in a social care setting are empowered to help achieve this shiſt and understand what a greater focus on community-first care means for them. There will be opportunities for upskilling as medical care is provided closer to clients – probably in care homes themselves. But there will also be questions about increased responsibility, and the need for registration of carers and care settings providing medical care.
Creating a sustainable healthcare system, then cultivating an approach which empowers care home professionals to play an increased role in the health and wellbeing of residents with the support of healthcare professionals in the community is essential.
Change will be facilitated by the introduction of digitally-connected diagnostic devices for use by care home professionals, meaning residents’ illnesses can be diagnosed in the care home. These devices will give care workers confidence when dealing with residents who are unwell, as well as helping care providers ensure that residents are managed in line with CQC expectations. We are developing one such platform, which builds on familiar Covid- style lateral flow tests, with a quantitative CRP (C-reactive protein) test that can bring clinical-grade testing for chronic inflammatory disease and bacterial infection to care professionals. Other tests are also coming of age, such as Entia for monitoring residents undergoing chemotherapy. These diagnostic devices integrated with smartphones to deliver rapid results could deliver a wide
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variety of diagnoses that would previously have required a hospital transfer to achieve.
Such devices will ease the burden on primary healthcare services for early detection and intervention, and it’s for this reason we need to see the government prioritising funding for their development. Together with colleagues in care homes and domiciliary care we see a future with these tests available not only in a hospital setting, but directly in care settings, allowing residents access to safe, accurate health data to ensure their wellbeing or inform their clinical treatment.
Of course, this is not to say that care professionals will entirely replace the existing clinical pathway with community diagnostics, but rather this will create a crucial first step to triage residents who need further GP intervention, a hospital transfer, or care that can be provided by regular care staff. By reducing the ambiguity, this can help staff introduce appropriate care to residents more quickly.
Rapid, accurate results will mean care professionals can track health to help residents live well and will provide insights in minutes rather than days, saving time currently spent on hospital trips. Antibiotic resistance is a real threat to care homes, where the risk of transmission is high due to the close proximity of staff and residents. Reliable and rapid distinction of viral from bacterial infections, will reduce the number of unnecessarily prescribed antibiotics thus reducing the risk of development of antibiotic resistance. If care staff are able to accurately and rapidly diagnose a resident’s illness, and ascertain whether antibiotics are appropriate, and for whom, blanket prescriptions to limit infection could be a thing of the past. As antimicrobial resistance is a growing threat to UK healthcare, particularly in care home settings, and therefore shiſting from treatment to prevention before these precious drugs are necessary is a vital step in the right direction.
The shiſt from hospital to community is a challenge to the way the care sector has worked, but there are opportunities to really demonstrate the value that carers bring to their residents by breaking down borders between health and care. It therefore also represents an opportunity for the sector to grow its responsibilities, its staff – and its profile with the public.
https://eclateral.com
www.tomorrowscare.co.uk
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